i was told the reason rice was not allowed to be tossed at a wedding was that it killed the birds true or not!

Question

i thought it was because of all the hunger in the world!!

Answer 1

Here's the theory on wedding rice. After the happy wedding couple leaves the church, all their so-called friends show their love by pelting them with fists full of hard, uncooked rice. If they somehow are able to survive that, the couple drives away and all the tossed rice is left lying, unguarded on the sidewalk. Soon a flock of innocent birds arrives to chow down whatever rice didn't get lodged in the target victim's eyes, ears and underwear. Once ingested, the harmless rice quickly expands to fifty thousand times its original size, causing the birds to inflate to roughly the size of the Hindenburg. Not only is this rapid expansion bad for the birds, but the bird's massive bodies can block traffic for hours.

This might come as a surprise to many, but rice is a grain. Grains, seeds and nuts are what birds have survived on for centuries. Ask any rice farmer and they will tell you that they could only hope that birds would over-inflate upon stealing their rice. The rice that thousands of bird are eating in rice fields every day, is the same rice that you buy in the store or that you throw at weddings. Rice, cooked or uncooked, will not bother the birds.

I still would throw birdseed. Birdseed is trendy. Plus, the local birds will enjoy it more than rice and if you bought a whole pound of seed from me, I would finally pass Bill Gates on the Forbes richest man in the world list. Won't he be surprise!

While I'm on the subject of myths, here are a few more about birds' eating habits that never seem to go away.

Peanut butter will cause birds to choke. Yeah, sure, maybe, if you were to hold a bird's mouth open and jam a shovel full of peanut butter in it. We would choke too if we did the same. Birds, like us, eat proportionately the right amount of food at one time. A chickadee only takes a tiny bit of peanut butter at once. the proper amount for a bird of that size to handle without choking. Birds, just like people, do occasionally have trouble and do indeed choke on food, but that is rare. The bad thing for birds is not eating peanut butter, but trying to Heimlich each other with their wings. They can't seem to get the grip right.

This last food myth is as whacky as the rice thing. Rumor has it if you toss a gull an Alka-Seltzer, the gull will eat it and explode. That's right, explode. Listen, Alka-Seltzer might taste bad but it's not dynamite, it's medicine. Do you really think that they would sell it to people if it made things explode? All it does is produce gas and most creatures have a way ridding themselves of gas, with only small explosions. Like many birds, gulls are masters at regurgitating things that don't agree with them. Even though they may not explode, I'm certainly not recommending anyone give gulls Alka-Seltzer. Although, after what I've seen gulls eat, they probably wouldn't mind a few tablets.

Answer 2

Rice and exploding (killing) birds is a MYTH. It always has been a myth, and it always will be a myth.

"You may have heard that, when birds eat rice thrown at a wedding, the rice swells so much inside their bellies that they pop. Sounds awful, doesn't it? But have you ever seen any exploding birds after a wedding? It never happens. In fact, birds are often big pests in rice fields. Some rice farmers may wish the pesky birds would explode, but they never do!" The National Wildlife Federation

"Uncooked, milled rice is no more harmful to birds than rice in the field, Cheesman said. The Curator of Ornithology at the University of California at Berkeley"

Answer 3

It is true that rice can kill birds....it is not true that they explode. There are a few aspects to why churches prefer people not to throw rice and your church may have one or all of them.

1. If a bird eats a lot of the rice, especially processed instant white rice which is what most people were using, it expands when you add liquid. Cook a bowl of rice and you will see what I am talking about. The birds do not "explode" but it can cause constipation which can kill them just like terminal constipation can kill a human because there isn't a way to get rid of the toxins that make up poo. Unprocessed rice has a much longer "puff time" so the birds have time to crap it out. Look on grocery store shelves....there is a huge diff. in cooktime between Minute Rice and bulk organic.

2. rice attracts birds and they cover the sidewalks with bird poo which sucks to clean up

3. processed rice has chemicals on it that can sometimes harm the grass if it is swept onto it and left

4. if it rains the rice becomes a sticky gooey mess from people walking on it. If it does not rain it can be a fall hazard like if you sprinkled marbles. (rice is round after all)

Answer 4

There are a lot of myths out there about throwing rice at weddings. The real reasons that many churches frown on, or forbid, throwing rice is that it makes a mess which need to be cleaned up and that throwing rice at a newly-married couple is a pagan fertility ritual.

Answer 5

Rice will not cause the birds to explode, however due to the shape of the rice it can be particularly slippery underfoot, causing you or your guests to take a nasty fall. Bubbles or rose petals are much safer, and make a much better picture for the end of your wedding album.

Answer 6

True, but your reason is good, too. Some people use birdseed. However, it's been a very long time since I've seen this at a wedding - people usually just don't do it anymore. People around here used to use confetti, but churches didn't like the cleanup.

Answer 7

Yes it is true, birds can be killed by different reactions to the rice. Use bubbles or bird seed instead of rice.

Answer 8

Yes it is true, the rice is eaten dehydrated and as the bird eats other food and drinks, the rice expands and essentially the bird has over-eaten and it will die :(

Answer 9

It is true, but now most companies make bird friendly rice. you can find it in most wedding catalogs. you also can use bubbles and bells and even some different kinds of birdseed.

Answer 10

From what I hear, it's the truth - the birds can't digest it and die.

Supposedly though, there's a newer form of rice that you can use that is bird-safe.